WEC Energy Group plans to invest $14 billion over the next four years in clean energy sources, new infrastructure and technology upgrades.
That’s from a recent report from the Milwaukee-based energy company, highlighting a transition to a largely carbon-free energy mix. The company has more than 2 million customers in the state.
In 2016, the company announced a goal of reducing carbon emissions 40 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. And last year, that goal was expanded to 80 percent reduction by 2050.
Between this year and 2023, the company says it will spend over $1 billion to increase the proportion of renewable energy sources in the company’s generation mix.
“We’re confident in our ability to achieve our 80 percent reduction goal, but it will require significant effort, continued improvements in technology and reshaping our generation fleet,” said Kevin Fletcher, president and CEO of WEC Energy Group.
In 2018, the company generated 52 percent of its electricity from low- and no-carbon sources. That includes both natural gas generation and coal-fueled generation with at least 70 percent reduced emissions.
Another goal is to implement smart meter technologies across all its subsidiary energy companies. WEC Energy Group says these devices could provide customers with more billing and energy management options in the future.
The portion of WEC’s electric customers with smart meters has grown from 14 percent in 2016 to 47 percent in 2018.
Aside from smart meters, two of WEC Energy Group’s Wisconsin companies — WPS and We Energies — offer energy management services for their business customers. That includes technical monitoring, site assessments and energy efficiency consultations.
“Thanks to these and other programs, incremental annual energy savings through energy efficiency measures increased 6 percent between 2017 and 2018,” report authors said.
The company is also exploring electric vehicles. The report highlights a “time-of-use” savings program offered by We Energies, which has customers charging their electric vehicles on weekends and other non-peak hours.
See the full report: http://www.wecenergygroup.com/csr/climate-report.pdf
